When GW Bush pressed for war in Iraq, I cried for the children we would lose there, and the lies that I knew we were being told. I cried because the minute we got the news that GW had been elected, my husband had announced, Well be invading Iraq. GW is still mad that his daddy didnt invade it, and he wants that oil! I cried because his dire prediction was coming true. I tried telling people that it would not be possible to make a democracy in a country that considers toleration itself to be a sin. A democracy requires the ability to put up with neighbors of differing beliefs. That is not going to happen in the Middle East. And I was screamed at for being UnAmerican and told that if I hate my country so much, I should leave. The ability to live side by side with people of other beliefs, attitudes and customs, is what my beloved country has always meant to me. I loved seeing Jewish families being portrayed on tv in the 1950s sitcom The Goldbergs. I loved seeing movies in which families of different cultures hated each other but in the end were united by love. To me, this was what my country is best at. Learning from others who have different cultures and beliefs. Becoming a new people with an expanding language that included all the many terms that were simply said best in Spanish (vamoose, hombre!), Portuguese (mosquito), Italian (Presto!), or French (ignorant, arrogant, atrocity!) The addition of Mexican families into the US has meant to me a WONDERFUL new set of foods, and watching our many Mexican neighbors in our apartment community has been a joy. Their family relationships, joy of family celebrations, and even their cleanliness almost always are way above what our average American neighbors maintain. Adding them into a tax paying group of neighbors, will make America a better country. I welcome them, just as I always welcomed the diversity that exists in every American city. Now our Christian neighbors are screaming about whether we should say Merry Christmas, as if NOT doing so is un-American. I have said Happy Holidays, Have a great holiday season and Merry Christmas for most of 69 years. But now, we are to believe that anything but Merry Christmas in un-American. This is one of many non-worthy discussions. Toleration is what MADE us UNITED. Our ability to stand side by side with people of other languages and religions and colors is what made me proud to be an American. We are being told to stop tolerating anyone that doesnt believe as Christians do. My country is becoming the Middle East.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 01:04:50 +0000
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